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Tampa Bay Rays: A Short History Already Filled with Success

Tampa Bay Rays, which is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, is a member of the American League East Division. The Major League Baseball team had started out as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and had first played in the Major League Baseball season in the year 1998.

Change of Ownership and Name: After almost a decade of not getting any good results on their games, the team was bought by Stuart Stenberg in 2007 from former owner and founder, Vince Naimoli. The new owner had first changed the name and the uniform design of the team. He had called the team as the Tampa Bay Rays or simply the 'Rays' and had changed the color of the uniform from rainbow color into Columbia blue, Navy blue and gold. The logo of the team was also changed as a yellow sunburst was designed as the team's new logo, which represents Florida's nickname as the Sunshine State.

Start of a Good Season: Only a year after the team was bought by Stenberg, the Rays had their first winning season in 2008. They had a record of 97-65 win-loss record. It was also the time that they have won the A.L. East Championship. This had been a good start for the Tampa Bay Rays, which they had used as an inspiration to achieve more and win more titles such as the East Division titles. The team had signed up major players and had done trades to improve the team's performance and overall stats. This, in turn, had resulted to a great outcome, which made the team stronger. Troy Percival, Matt Garza and Jason Barlett were some of the additions that were included in the trades. The team had also chosen great players in their drafts during the 2012 season, which included David Price, one of college baseball's top players. Also, the team's salary was increased, which is deemed to have a great positive effect on the performance of its management and the team players.

Championships: The Rays had won a total of four championships. They had won the A.L. Pennant Championship in 2008. The team had also won the east Division Titles twice - in 2008 and 2010. The Rays had also won the Wild Card Berths Championship in 2011.

The Happy Heckler: One of the most remarkable fans of the Rays is 'The Happy Heckler' who had been heckling the opponents of the Tampa Bay Rays in every game. He did retire in 2009 but came back in April 2012.

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